Digital Citizenship, Ethics, and Netiquette on the Internet

http://www.teachthought.com/technology/20-basic-rules-for-digital-citizenship/

This website provides one with an animated graph of the “20 Basic Rules for Digital Citizenship” that was created by www.knowthenet.org.uk. The main emphasis of the graph is the dos’ and don’ts of online behavior, for example,  “do treat everyone like you want to be treated; don’t forget the human behind the screen and share, but be fair; don’t steal other peoples works” to name a few of dos and don’ts. In comparison to the “Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship” (Ribble, 2013) this graph is simpler, and the pictures are effective enough to get the message across about the importance of digital citizenship, ethics, and netiquette on the Internet. Furthermore, www.knowthenet.com provides interactive tests about one’s knowledge of the Internet and it is for the old and young.

As an educator I could implement this graph in two ways to my ABE/GED/ESL adult learners. The first way would be to create a group activity that would require the adult learners to work together in pairs to complete the exercise. The exercise would consist of a puzzle format. After reviewing the graph visually on a whiteboard I would mixed the dos and don’ts together with other similar dos and don’ts and give the teams an allotted time to complete their task and the first team that finishes gets their choice of chocolate or pencils. The second way to implement is to present it as a worksheet that has missing dos and don’ts and the individual learners would have to fill in the blanks, in most cases the learners help one another. The interactive method of implementing the dos and don’ts of online behavior helps the older and younger learners remember and implement the rules.

http://www.networketiquette.net/

This website is great for my younger GED adult learners because the author of the site David Chiles is a Social Media Rapper. He raps about the netiquette. His site covers all the concerns of the proper etiquette online, using mobile phones, social media sites, and safety to name a few. Moreover, his site is not cluttered but very simple to navigate through and easy to read. I was intrigued with his YouTube videos of his raps in regards to netiquette. I thought that his site would be perfect for my urban GED learners that are computer savvy and mobile texting learners that always have ear plugs in their ears listening to rap when they come to class.   

I could implement this rap of netiquette two ways for my GED adult learners. First, I would provide a worksheet with his ten golden rules for netiquette along some others that are similar and as a group activity the class would circle the rules David Chiles is rapping about and discuss the importance of each. The second activity would be to use the white board of show each video have the learners write their interpretation and compare it to the actual rule, thereby creating a group discussion. My younger GED adult learners require more stimulation than some of my older adult learners therefore, utilizing rap to get a message across would seem to be much more effective than other activities that probably would not peak their interest.

In sum, both of the websites chosen provided an adult educator with material and innovative ways to implement the information to the desired audience. The first website www.teachthought.com provides an “infograph” (Heick, 2013) that is an excellent tool for my ESL and ABE adult learners because of the simplicity of the graphs. The second website www.networketiquette.net is great for my younger GED adult learners that would be bored with the “infograph” (Heick, 2013)because it is not as stimulating as rap music. Thus in my quest to find the right technologies related to digital citizenship, ethics, and netiquette for my ABE/GED/ESL adult learners, I did accomplish my goal.

References:

Chiles, D. (2013, December 7). The Principles of Netiquette. Retrieved from Networketiquette: http://www.networketiquette.net/ebook_iug.html

Heick, T. (2013, September 7). 20 Rules for Digital Citizenship. Retrieved from Teach Thought: http://www.teachthought.com/technology/20-basic-rules-for-digital-citizenship/